Dog 'Literally Ate Pensioner Alive' (VIDEO AND PICTURES)

Two women have been jailed after a pensioner was "literally eaten alive" by their dog.

Clifford Clarke, 79, was mauled in his garden in Liverpool after he opened his back door while he was cooking a meal.

The court heard that the "wild" and "out of control" Presa Canario sank its teeth into Mr Clarke's arm and dragged him around his garden.

The dog effectively chewed his arm off and also mauled his other arm. Mr Clarke died from multiple injuries and blood loss.

The dog attacked police officers when they arrived on the scene and they were forced to attempt to distract it before an armed unit arrived.

A marksman had to shoot the dog twice after it continued to approach following the first strike, the court was told.

Della Woods (second left) and Hayley Sulley (second right)

The Presa Canario cross-breed dog had earlier escaped from the garden of his next-door neighbour.

Hayley Sulley, 30, of Richard Kelly Close, and Della Woods, 29, of Swallowhurst Crescent, Norris Green, admitted an offence under the Dangerous Dogs Act of allowing a dog to enter a place where it was not allowed to be and where it injured a person.

On Tuesday, both women wept in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court as Judge Mark Brown told them Mr Clarke's death was "entirely avoidable" and sentenced them to a year in prison each.

They had left the dog, Charlie, unattended in the garden on a hot day last May without water and shade while they went to a barbecue.

Both women, who are in a relationship, were told by the judge that they were fortunate not to have been charged with manslaughter.